Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, who has ministerial responsibility for Education and Social Development, reported that over the past two-and-a-half months the Government has had a very busy period as it settled in office.
“The Government of Anguilla, and particularly the Ministry of Education and Social Development, has been undertaking a number of reviews and assessments of various departments and statutory bodies, to determine the way forward. Even though it may seem to be a long time, it has been a relatively short period and our reviews are still ongoing.
“We have had to prioritise the most pressing issues, coronavirus, funding issues: deadlines related to the [UK Government’s] MOU provisions, and meeting with various stakeholders across the departments.”
Speaking specifically about her Ministry, the Minister touched on the protocols for the reopening of schools and the development of a comprehensive document for use across the education sector. “While the fall in revenue would have necessitated cuts across all Government departments, we have also had to increase spending to maintain the safety of our students, teachers, support staff and community,” she stated. “This would account for additional custodians for the schools, the need for substitute teachers, maintenance costs for the schools, additional cleaning and sanitation supplies, and the industrial cleaning of the schools.”
Minister Kentish-Rogers revealed, among other matters, that the funding for the educational projects had begun to run out, necessitating certain adjustments. She went on: “In relation to the Anguilla Programme, the Government of Anguilla signed an MOU with the UK Government for the grant of sixty million pounds for the development of infrastructure on the island. A number of educational projects were identified. Currently we have the Orealia Kelly Primary School, the Adrian T. Hazell Primary School, The Valley Primary School and the Morris Vanterpool Primary School under construction, along with the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School.
“These projects were fit within a limited budget, and we have faced the problem of an over-subscription of the sixty million pounds. That means that the Government has placed too many projects within the funding granted. It has therefore placed a question on whether or not there will be sufficient funds to complete these projects.
“Originally, for the education sector, especially for the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, the project envisioned having both Campus A and Campus B being housed in the same facility for ease of delivering the service of education to all students in the high school sector at The Quarter site. However, we have received a reduction because of an over-spending of the grant of thirty-two million US dollars to twenty-four million US dollars. As a result we had to exclude certain items from the completion of the ALHCS programme.”
The Minister added: “What the Government of Anguilla is currently doing is finding the requisite funding – to be able to complete these programmes – which we cannot guarantee that we will get. But that does not mean that we will not be working hard to find it. In the alternative, we are looking to re-purposing some of the rooms…so that certain items that would have been excluded from the programme – like the science lab – can be fitted within the current programme in another way.”
About sports, the Minister of Education said: “In relation to basketball, we met with local engineers and we are currently working on how we can develop sporting facilities for our young people. We have been able to secure land at Long Pond for the development of a baseball field which, we hope, will continue to increase the sporting diversity on the island. It will give us a chance to invite overseas teams to play in this particular sporting area, and it will give us a chance to develop a baseball and softball academy.
“We are looking to get international accreditation for the John T. Memorial Race and once we are able to do so – and it is recognised as an international event – we will be able to market it at international level to be able to get more international athletes coming into Anguilla.”
